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Internationals for Chelsea players
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2005
It’s a busy week for Chelsea players across the world. International games start on Friday and finish next Wednesday.



Friday October 7th





Carlton Cole

England Under 21s v Austria Under 21s



Lassana Diarra

Switzerland Under 21s v France Under 21s



Steven Watt

Scotland Under 21s v Belarus Under 21s.



Saturday October 8th


Petr Cech, Arjen Robben

Czech Republic v Holland



Asier Del Horno

Belgium v Spain



Claude Makelele, William Gallas

Switzerland v France



Michael Essien

Cape Verde Island v Ghana



Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira

Portugal v Liechtenstein



Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, John Terry

England v Austria



Damien Duff

Cyprus v Ireland



Gérémi

Cameroon v Egypt



Didier Drogba

Sudan v Ivory Coast



Robert Huth

Turkey v Germany.



Sunday October 9th


Hernán Crespo

Argentina v Peru.



Tuesday October 11th


Carlton Cole

England Under 21s v Poland Under 21s



Lassana Diarra

France Under 21s v Cyprus Under 21s



Steven Watt

Slovenia Under 21s v Scotland Under 21s.



Wednesday October 12th


Petr Cech

Finland v Czech Republic



Asier Del Horno

San Marino v Spain



Claude Makelele, William Gallas

France v Cyprus



Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira

Portugal v Latvia



Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, John Terry

England v Poland



Hernán Crespo

Uruguay v Argentina



Damien Duff

Ireland v Switzerland



Arjen Robben

Holland v Macedonia






Robert Huth

Germany v China.



In addition to the above, Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne are in Poland with England Under 19s, James Simmonds is away with Ireland Under 19s, and Ricardo Fernandes and Fabio Ferreira are with Portugal Under 17s.

Mon, 4th Jun 2007

All Chelsea players involved in Euro 2008 qualification games over the weekend remain healthily-placed to make the finals in Switzerland and Austria.

Petr Cech did what he does best and kept a clean sheet, this time in Cardiff against the Welsh.

The Chelsea keeper denied the retiring Ryan Giggs a farewell goal with three second-half saves and a 0-0 draw maintains the Czech's second place in their group behind the Germans.

Evergreen Claude Makelele (pictured) provided the high-ball forward that led to Franck Ribéry's 57th minute deadlock breaker at home to a Shevchenko-less Ukraine. The French added a second before Lassana Diarra joined the action as a substitute nine minutes from the end of normal time. The French remain group leaders.

Paulo Ferreira continued in his regular role as Portugal's left-back in an important 2-1 away win in Belgium. The Portuguese are another second-placed side in what is a tight battle with Poland and Serbia.

Ben Sahar won his third cap for Israel, coming on in the 61st minute of a game in Macedonia, by which stage all three goals had been scored in Israel's 2-1 win.

They are also second, three points ahead of fourth-placed England in a competitive group having played one game more.

On Sunday, Chelsea strikers began and ended the scoring as Ivory Coast maintained their 100 per cent record in the qualification campaign for the African Cup of Nations.

Salomon Kalou netted the first and Didier Drogba the fifth in a 5-0 home thrashing of Madagascar.

Wed, 6th Jun 2007

Several Chelsea players will compete in their final game of the season tonight as the latest batch of European Championships qualifying internationals take place. Claude Makelele is set to make his 50th start of the season. He has also made four substitute appearances.

The English are in Estonia, the French at home to Georgia and the Israeli is in Andorra. Gérémi and Cameroon still have internationals to come.

It has, of course, been one of the longest seasons ever because of Chelsea's involvement in all four competitions to the latter stages.

Here is how the season has broken down for club and country for the players.

Chelsea appearances this season 64
Lampard 58+4, Drogba 54+6, Essien 54+1, Carvalho 51, Terry 44+1, Ballack 42+4, Makelele 42+4, Shevchenko 41+10, A Cole 37+3, Cech 36, Ferreira 29+9, Bridge 27+6, Kalou 25+33, Mikel 24+18, Robben 24+13, Gérémi 23+5, Wright-Phillips 19+25, Boulahrouz 19+4, Hilário 18, Diarra 17+6, Cudicini 10+1, J Cole 9+15, Sinclair 1+2, Morais 0+5, Sahar 0+5, Woods 0+2, Hutchinson 0+1.

Chelsea goals 117
Drogba 33, Lampard 21, Shevchenko 14, Kalou 9, Ballack 8, Essien 6, Wright-Phillips 6, og 5, Carvalho 4, Robben 3, J Cole 2, Mikel 2, Bridge 1, Gérémi 1, Makelele 1, Terry 1.

International appearances this season at Full and Under 21s levels while with Chelsea
Lampard 9, Terry 9, Carvalho 8, Cech 8, Diarra 7+1, Ballack 7, Makelele 7, Younghusband 7, Drogba 6+1, A Cole 6, Robben 6, Ferreira 5+1, Essien 5, Gérémi 5, Shevchenko 4, Boulahrouz 3+1, Kalou 3+1, Sahar 2+4, Mikel 2+1, J Cole 2, Wright-Phillips 1+3, Elmer 1, Bridge 0+1. A Cole also played one while at Arsenal before joining us on 31 August.

International goals this season at Full and Under 21s levels while with Chelsea
Younghusband 8, Ballack 4, Carvalho 3, Drogba 3, Sahar 3, Kalou 2, Shevchenko 2, Terry 2, Essien 1, Gallas 1, Lampard 1, Robben 1.

TOTAL APPEARANCES THIS SEASON
Lampard 67+4, Drogba 60+7, Essien 59+1, Carvalho 59, Terry 53+1, Ballack 49+4, Makelele 49+4, Shevchenko 45+10, A Cole 44+3 (also played one reserve game giving a total of 45+3), Cech 44, Ferreira 34+10 (also played one reserve game giving a total of 35+10), Robben 30+13, Kalou 28+34 (also played 1 reserve game giving a total of 29+34), Gérémi 28+5, Bridge 27+7, Mikel 26+19 (also played 1 reserve game giving a total of 27+19), Diarra 24+7 (also played one reserve game giving a total of 25+7), Boulahrouz 22+5, Wright-Phillips 20+28, Hilário 18 (also played 2 reserve games giving a total of 20), J Cole 11+15, Cudicini 10+1, Younghusband 7 (also played 10+2 reserve games giving a total of 17+2), Sahar 2+9 (also played 15+1 reserves games and 5+4 youth games, giving a total of 22+14), Sinclair 1+2 (also played 10+8 loan games, 2 youth internationals, 11 reserve games and 5+1 youth games, giving a total of 29+11), Elmer 1 (also played 8 youth internationals, 8+4 reserve games and 9 youth games giving a total of 26+4), Morais 0+5 (also played 4 reserve games giving a total of 4+5), Woods 0+2 (also played 10+1 youth internationals, 11+3 reserve games and 9+1 youth games giving a total of 30+7), Hutchinson 0+1 (also played 1 youth international, 13 reserve games and 11+1 youth games giving a total of 25+2).


TOTAL GOALS THIS SEASON
Drogba 36, Lampard 22, Shevchenko 16, Ballack 12, Kalou 11 (also scored 3 reserve goals giving a total of 14), Younghusband 8 (also scored 4 reserve goals giving a total of 12), Carvalho 7, Essien 7, Wright-Phillips 6, Robben 4, Sahar 3 (also scored 7 reserve goals and 4 youth goals giving a total of 14), Terry 3, Gérémi 2, J Cole 2, Bridge 1, Makelele 1. Scott Sinclair scored 4 loan goals, 7 reserve goals and 1 youth goal giving a total of 12. Michael Woods scored 4 youth international goals and 3 youth goals giving a total of 7.

He really needs a rest, tbh.

I couldn't believe that Mikel was not chosen for international duty, he showed signs of truly being a great player this year, amazing talent!

Sat, 9th Jun 2007

The European Under-21s Championships start this weekend with Chelsea interest focusing on Ben Sahar.

The Israeli is the youngest player in the tournament.

Look out too for the second youngest player. Serbian central defender Slobodan Rhakovic is an 18-year-old central defender for OFK Belgrade whom Chelsea has first option on. He played in our friendly for the reserves against Team China at Brentford. He made his first team debut at the age of 15.

Their games are as follows.

Sunday 10 June
Holland v Israel, 5.15pm
(Holland is the host country)

Monday 11 June
Serbia v Italy, 7.45pm

Wednesday 13 June
Israel v Belgium, 5.15pm

Thursday 14 June
Czech Republic v Serbia, 5.15pm

Saturday 16 June
Israel v Portugal, 7.45pm

Sunday 17 June
England v Serbia, 7.45pm

All times are UK times. All games are live on Sky Sports.

Gérémi and Cameroon have one more summer international, at home to Rwanda on Saturday 16 June.

New signing Claudio Pizarro has a summer of Copa America. His Group games are confirmed.

Tuesday 26 June
Uruguay v Peru

Saturday 30 June
Venezuela v Peru
(Venezuela is the host country)

Tuesday 3 July
Peru v Bolivia

Gérémi, playing right-back for Cameroon today, scored with a free-kick three minutes into the second-half as his country beat Rwanda 2-1.



This was Cameroon's fourth game in their African Cup of Nations qualifiers, and they have a 100 per cent record.



They led 1-0 at the interval, the Chelsea man making it 2-0.



Gérémi is the most capped of all Chelsea's current players. This was his 83rd cap and his 14th international goal. This season, despite playing all but one of his matches at right-back - the other was at centre-back - he has scored twice in six internationals.



He can finally put his boots away for the summer now.



So can Ben Sahar, Israel Under-21s having lost 4-0 to Portugal yesterday to finish the Group stage of the European Under-21s Championships scoreless.



He started all three games and played all but the last 10 minutes of the final one.



The next internationals involving a Chelsea player will be Copa America and the newly signed Claudio Pizarro.



Their first match is against Uruguay on 26 June. The Copa America takes place in Venzuela.



Total international appearances of current players

Gérémi (Cameroon) 83, Ballack (Germany) 77, Shevchenko (Ukraine) 73, Crespo (Argentina) 61, A Cole (England) 58, Makelele (France) 58, Verón (Argentina) 56, Lampard (England) 55, Cech (Czech Republic) 52, Pizarro (Peru) 46, Drogba (Ivory Coast) 44, J Cole (England) 40, Carvalho (Portugal) 39, Ferreira (Portugal) 39, Terry (England) 39, Ben Haim (Israel) 33, Robben (Holland) 29, Bridge (England) 25, Essien (Ghana) 25, Boulahrouz (Holland) 19, Wright-Phillips (England) 12, Mikel (Nigeria) 8, Johnson (England) 5, Younghusband (Philippines) 4, Kalou (Ivory Coast) 4, Sahar (Israel) 4, Diarra (France) 3.



Total international scorers of current players

Ballack (Germany) 35, Shevchenko (Ukraine) 33, Crespo (Argentina) 32, Drogba (Ivory Coast) 27, Gérémi (Cameroon) 14, Lampard (England) 12, Pizarro (Peru) 11, Verón (Argentina) 9, Robben (Holland) 8, J Cole (England) 7, Younghusband (Philippines) 6, Essien (Ghana) 5, Carvalho (Portugal) 4, Terry (England) 3, Kalou (Ivory Coast) 2, Sahar (Israel) 2, Bridge (England) 1, Mikel (Nigeria) 1, Wright-Phillips (England) 1.



International appearances this season at Full and Under-21s levels while with Chelsea

Lampard 10, Terry 10, Carvalho 8, Cech 8, Makelele 8, Diarra 7+1, Ballack 7, Younghusband 7, Drogba 6+1, A Cole 6, Gérémi 6, Robben 6, Sahar 5+4, Ferreira 5+1, Essien 5, Shevchenko 4, Boulahrouz 3+1, Kalou 3+1, J Cole 3, Crespo 2+1, Mikel 2+1, Elmer 2, Wright-Phillips 1+3, Bridge 1+1, Gallas 1. A Cole also played one while at Arsenal before joining us on 31 August.



International goals this season at Full and Under-21s levels while with Chelsea

Younghusband 8, Ballack 4, Carvalho 3, Drogba 3, Sahar 3, Gérémi 2, Kalou 2, Shevchenko 2, Terry 2, J Cole 1, Essien 1, Gallas 1, Lampard 1, Robben 1.

Chelsea's new striker Claudio Pazarro helped his country, Peru, to an astonishing 3-0 win over Uruguay on the opening day of Copa America last night, Tuesday.

Uruguay had been one of the fancied outsiders for the tournament but Peru, playing a front three of PSV Eindhoven's Jefferson Farfan, Pizarro and Hamburg's Paolo Guerrera, led 1-0 at half-time and were easy winners at the end.


Pizarro suffered a booking on the hour and was substituted with just over 10 minutes left as his country led 2-0.

Peru now face hosts Venezuela on Saturday. They drew 2-2 with Bolivia in the tournament's other opening day game. A Peru victory at the weekend will see them qualify for the knockout stage.

I watched the game. He missed a golden one on one, and later missed a much harder chance bt the ball was too far ahead of him and couldn't get much more than studs on it.

FIVE GO TO ENGLAND

Chelsea have five players in the England squad named by Steve McClaren on Friday afternoon to take on Germany at Wembley next Wednesday.

Captain John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips are all in the party.

YOUTHS IN ACTION AT U-17 WORLD CUP

It's not just our senior squad on international duty this week, as four youth team players are in Korea for the Under-17 World Cup.

Englishmen Michael Woods (pictured) and Nana Ofori-Twumasi were in the side that drew 1-1 with North Korea, while Tom Taiwo watched on as an unused substitute.

They have Brazil and New Zealand to come on Tuesday and Friday respectively, and will be hoping to progress into the next round.

Sergio Tejera was an unused substitute for the Spanish side that beat Honduras 4-2, with Syria and Argentina still to face in the coming week.

COUNTRY CALL UPS


Our Cobham training complex will be a little quieter than usual this week, as a host of players are in international action around the world.

Three of Chelsea's Africans are the first on midweek duty. Michael Essien's Ghana take on Senegal in a friendly at Millwall's New Den home tonight and Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are in Paris where the Ivory Coast are in friendly action against Egypt. The game is a repeat of the last African Cup of Nations final.

Also hoping to take to the field on Tuesday night is Michael Mancienne. Our 19-year-old defender, currently on-loan at QPR, has been called into the England Under 21 squad for the first time. England play Romania at Bristol City's Ashton Gate.

Tomorrow there are six fixtures that we have a special interest in, particularly as Portugal travel to Armenia in European Championship qualifying. Our own Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho have travelled with the squad, which has ground to make up on leaders Poland if they are to qualify for the finals next summer.

Elsewhere there are friendlies, with five England players in Steve McClaren's squad that hosts Germany at Wembley, as captain John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips hope to be involved.

Petr Cech will be between the sticks as his Czech Republic side travel to Austria, while Tal Ben-Haim plays his first international game since joining the Blues for Israel in Belarus.

The French trio of Florent Malouda, Claude Makelele and Lassana Diarra are all hoping to feature in their friendly in Slovakia.

Finally, John Mikel Obi is back in the Nigeria squad and the Super Eagles travel to Skopje to take on Macedonia.

Be sure to return to chelseafc.com to find out how our international players fared.

Shevchenko unable to play 90 minutes, says Blokhin
KIEV, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko is not fit enough to play a full 90 minutes in their friendly against Uzbekistan because his club Chelsea keep leaving him on the bench, national coach Oleg Blokhin said on Tuesday.
Blokhin acknowledged the striker had also been suffering from a back injury but that the main problem was a lack of match practice ahead of Wednesday's game in Kiev.
"In the first place, I don't even know if Shevchenko will be playing at all tomorrow. As far as I know, he will certainly not be able to play for the entire match," Blokhin told a news conference.
"If we decide Shevchenko will play against Uzbekistan, I think he'll be on the field no more than 45 minutes.
"The issue here is not the injury, but the fact he missed so much time and simply won't be ready. He's been training all week, but 90 minutes just isn't realistic."
Shevchenko joined the London club for 30 million pounds ($59 million) in 2006. He struggled to make an impact in the Premier League in his first season and coach Jose Mourinho has often left him out of his starting line-up.
"It's up to the coach (Mourinho) to determine his own line-up. He is, after all, responsible for his team's record. So, in this instance, I can't help Shevchenko ... Let's see how things go. The English championship is a long one."
Ukraine, fourth in Euro 2008 qualifying Group B, are gearing up for matches next month against second-placed Italy and Georgia, who are second from bottom. France lead the group.

INTERNATIONALS: FIRST UNDER 21 CAP FOR MANCIENNE



Michael Mancienne, currently on loan at QPR, was a half-time substitute for England Under-21s in their 1-1 draw with Romania. It was the 19-year-old defender's first appearance at this level having been called into the squad for the first time by Stuart Pearce. Both goals came prior to his introduction.

Mancienne is a product of the Chelsea Academy and this month signed a new three-year contract.

Chelsea had two other players in action last night on the first of two evenings of international football.

Michael Essien's Ghana were denied a victory against Senegal by El Hadji Diouf's equaliser at Millwall's New Den ground, with our midfield maestro made captain of the Black Stars in the absence of injured Stephen Appiah. He played the first 77 minutes.

Essien's contribution prompted Ghana manager Claude Le Roy to say: 'Michael is a not a normal player, he is from another planet.

'I was telling him there is no player of his level anywhere in the world. It is unbelievable. He played on Sunday, came on Monday for training, he didn't ask me for a rest but I took him off before the end. I hope José Mourinho is happy that I didn't play him for 90 minutes.

'With Michael in the team anything is possible.'

Lassana Diarra turned out for a French A' side that went down 1-0 to Slovakia's second string away in Senec. Diarra started the game alongside the likes of Mikael Silvestre and David Trezeguet before being replaced by Rio Mavuba in the 68th minute. France A' was a team taken from the squad originally selected for Wednesday evening's full international.

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou have been forced to wait an extra 24 hours for international action as the Ivory Coast versus Egypt tie originally scheduled for last night has been postponed until tonight.

That means there could be as many as 14 Chelsea players in action this evening, with the most notable fixture being Portugal's visit to Armenia in European Championship qualifying.

Elsewhere there are friendlies as Andriy Shevchenko's Ukraine play Uzbekistan, Tal Ben-Haim visits Belarus with Israel, Petr Cech plays in goal for the Czech Republic against Austria and Claude Makelele and Florent Malouda prepare to face Slovakia with France.

John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Shaun-Wright Phillips are the five Blues in the England squad preparing to face Germany tonight.

Check back tomorrow for details on all the Chelsea players' involvement for their international teams.

BLUES IN INTERNATIONAL ACTION

Twelve Chelsea players were involved in international action on Wednesday night, on what was a mixed evening for Blues players representing their countries.

Paulo Ferreira played 90 minutes in Portugal's disappointing 1-1 European Championships qualifying draw in Armenia, while Andriy Shevchenko sparkled in his first appearance of the season. The Ukrainian lasted 55 minutes in their 2-1 friendly victory over Uzbekistan in Kiev.

In the rest of the friendly games, the only other win for our boys was for the French duo, as Claude Makelele and Florent Malouda both played the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 win in Slovakia.

The four England players in action had a disappointing evening at Wembley, though Frank Lampard, who played the whole game, did open the scoring with a powerful drive.

Captain John Terry also played the full match, while Joe Cole lasted 69 minutes on the left wing before being replaced by clubmate Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Ashley Cole had pulled out of the squad earlier in the day with a bruised shoulder.

Petr Cech completed 90 minutes for the Czech Republic in their 1-1 draw in Austria, making two first half saves before eventually being beaten in the 79th minute.

Tal Ben-Haim's Israel went down 2-1 in Belarus, while Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou's Ivory Coast side played out a 0-0 stalemate with Egypt in Paris.

YOUNG BLUES TO REPRESENT ENGLAND



Five young Blues are celebrating international call ups this week as the England under-19 squad has been announced for their friendly with Belarus in two weeks' time.

First team member Scott Sinclair, pictured, is in manager Brian Eastick's squad, to be held at Notts County's Meadow Lane ground, along with current reserve players Sam Hutchinson and Lee Sawyer.

The group is completed by youngsters Ryan Bertrand and Jack Cork who are both currently on loan at Oldham Athletic and Scunthorpe United respectively.

Eastick is continuously surveying players' progress, and is excited about the current batch of players, having had some help from their clubs.

He said: 'I worked with this team last year as U18s and they had a great 4-1 win over Holland at Yeovil Town but player assessment is constantly ongoing and we're always monitoring the lads to see who's progressing nicely.

'Football at this level is all about development but we've got a good database of players and we'll also take on board the recommendations of both clubs and scouts.'

There is more good news for the Chelsea Academy, as a further three players have been drafted into the under-17 squad for a friendly tournament with Northern Ireland, Turkey and Italy.

Adam Phillip, Jacob Mellis and Ben Gordon will all be hoping to be involved in the games, which begin tomorrow at Brentford's Griffin Park ground.

England 6-1 N. Ireland


U17 International Tournament 2007
7.45pm, Wednesday 29 August 2007
Griffin Park, Brentford FC

England’s U17s put in a convincing performance as they brushed aside Northern Ireland 6-1 in the first match of this season’s International Tournament at Brentford FC’s Griffin Park.

While last season's U17s are preparing for their World Cup second round match against Syria in Korea on Thursday, the new crop at that age range, under the guidance of Noel Blake, were in action a little closer to home.

Andros Townsend took a huge step in following in the footsteps of the likes of England’s Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott, along with Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez, who have all starred in the tournament in the past.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Townsend put the Young Lions in front in the 30th minute when he slotted past Northern Ireland goalkeeper Conor Delvin after good work from Cameron Stewart.

Stewart beat two defenders before threading the ball through to Townsend, who applied the finish.

Townsend then added a second four minutes later when he headed in Stewart’s cross before Leicester City’s Luke O’Neil made it 3-0 with a half-volley from inside the box.

Manchester United midfielder Stewart got his reward for a fine performance when he scored with a neat shot on the turn in the 65th minute.

Second-half substitute Dean Parrett put the result beyond doubt with a low shot from the edge of the box in the 69th minute.

But the Northern Irish salvaged some pride when Chris Curran scored a consolation goal with a low shot that deflected off Chris Stokes.

However, Chelsea’s Jacob Mellis restored England’s five goal advantage with a lob over Delvin in stoppage time.

England
Declan Rudd (Norwich City); Luke O'Neil (Leicester City), Matty James (Manchester United), Chris Stokes (Bolton Wanderers), Matthew Briggs (Fulham); Cameron Stewart (Manchester United), Oli Norwood (Manchester United), Mitchell McPike (Birmingham City), Jacob Mellis (Chelsea), 72, John Bostock (Crystal Palace), (Dean Parrett (Tottenham Hotspur), 65); Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicky Ajose (Manchester United), 64;
Subs not used: Chris Solly (Charlton), Ben Gordon (Chelsea), Ryan Donaldson (Newcastle United), Dean Lyness (Birmingham City);

Coach Noel Blake

Bookings None

Northern Ireland
Conor Delvin; Andrew King, (Scott Davidson, 45), Graeme Taylor, Chris McAdam, Peter Bardley; Andrew Mitchell, Chris Curran, Patrick McLaughlin, Michael McGrudden; Daniel Kearns, (Aaron Boyd, 50), Gavin McParland, (Michael Doran, 57);
Subs not used: Connor Roberts, Lee McCaughern, Craig Hill, Neil Dougan

Coach Kenny Shiels

Bookings None

WORLD CUP ENDS FOR YOUNG ENGLAND THREE

The involvement of three Chelsea Academy players in the Under 17s World Cup in Korea has come to an end at the quarter-final stage.

The England team went down 4-1 to Germany in Sunday's game, played in front of more than 12,000 spectators in Goyang City.

Chelsea full-back Nana Ofori-Twumasi (pictured) played the whole game, midfielder Michael Woods the first 58 minutes. Another young midfielder, Tom Taiwo, was suspended.

Spain Under 17s, containing Chelsea's attacking midfielder Sergio Tejera in their squad, play Ghana in a semi-final on Wednesday.

The new England Under 17 squad, the one that will be succeeding those out in Korea for the season ahead, had a happier Sunday than their predecessors.

They won the third and final game of an international tournament, beating Italy 3-0 at Luton.

Chelsea's Ben Gordon, Jacob Mellis and Adam Phillip were all involved; Phillip as a second-half sub. Mellis created the chance for the third goal.

BUSY WEEK FOR THE BLUES BOYS

There will be a hectic period for international football over the coming week and a half with Chelsea players representing their countries in all four corners of the world.

John Terry captains England against Israel at Wembley with fellow Chelsea defender Tal Ben-Haim a possible obstacle to the home nation's hopes.

Ashley Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole are in the England squad for Saturday. Frank Lampard will unfortunately miss the game due to his thigh injury.

England are currently fourth in their group with a game in hand over Israel who are sitting second after playing eight games, receiving 17 points. A win on Saturday will put them level with Israel who secured a point from our last meeting in March with a 0-0 draw.

England will be hoping to gain all three points from Israel this time before moving onto to play Russia at Wembley the following Wednesday.

Chelsea's Paulo Ferreira is in line to represent Portugal in their Euro 2008 qualifier against Poland who are currently stationed top of Group A. However, even a win for Portugal would still see them trailing Poland by a point. Ricardo Carvalho is missing due to his injury.

Portugal, who are currently ranked tenth in the Fifa World Rankings, have only managed a win against Belgium in their last three games and will face Serbia on Wednesday 12th. Both games are at home.

France, who have won their last three games, are currently presiding top of Group B with 18 points, leaving them two points ahead of world champions Italy with whom they will battle on Saturday in Milan.

Both Claude Makelele and Florent Malouda will be in the squad to face Italy and Scotland, who they play the following Wednesday at home.

Andriy Shevchenko and Ukraine will be hoping for a win when they play away in Georgia on Saturday, having only lost one of their last three games, to France.

Ukraine are sixth in Group B with 12 points but have only played six games, leaving them a game in hand behind France and two in hand over Georgia and the Faroe Islands.

Ukraine, who are currently ranked 15th in the world, will be hoping to grab three points from Georgia before Sheva faces familiar defenders when Italy arrive next Wednesday.

In the African Cup of Nations, Salomon Kalou will miss his club and country team mate, Didier Drogba, for Ivory Coast's meeting with Gabon. Drogba received a knee injury in the dying minutes of Chelsea meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday leaving him unable to play for his country.

Ivory Coast, who beat Gabon 5-0 in their last meeting in October 2006 and also beat Madagascar 5-0 in the beginning of June this year, are currently at the top of Group 1 with three wins in three games.

Michael Essien will be playing for Ghana in a friendly against Morocco in France on Saturday. Ghana, who are currently ranked 43rd in the world, haven't won any of their last three games, but managed to hold off Brazil to only a 1-0 defeat.

They then travel to play Saudi Arabia in the Saudi capital on Wednesday.

Claudio Pizarro is with Peru for their friendly game against Colombia on Saturday before facing Bolivia in another friendly in South America the following Wednesday.

Alex's Brazil have games in the United States against the home nation on Sunday and Mexico the following Wednesday.

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel missed a penalty in the second half after his shot got stopped by the water on the field.

yeah Mikel is finally back for us...he played well...and yeah Nigeria pretty much had two goals denied by the waterlogged pitch. Ike Uche actually beat the keeper and had the ball stop on the goal line. Mikel's didn't really stop though....it was just a poor penalty.

He plays a much more attacking role for Nigeria. He was back to sliding past defenders and putting crosses into the box yesterday. However, I must say he has a lot more hustle and defensive ability than he did before he came to Chelsea

INTERNATIONAL ROUND-UP: WRIGHT-PHILLIPS STRIKES

Shaun Wright-Phillips proved recommendations made by colleagues at Chelsea were not unfounded as he scored the vital first goal in England's much needed 3-0 win over Israel.

The Chelsea winger showed good technique to stab a half-volley home after 40 minutes. The ball in came from his club mate on the opposite wing, Joe Cole.

It was Wright-Phillips's second England goal but on his 14th appearance, he was once again denied his first international 90 minutes, making way for David Bentley with seven minutes remaining.

The two Coles and John Terry played the whole game, as did Tal Ben-Haim for the Israel side.

England move up to third in their group, one point behind Russia who visit Wembley on Wednesday.

Salomon Kalou was another Chelsea player celebrating. Ivory Coast could only draw 0-0 with Gabon but by avoiding a six-goal defeat, they guaranteed their place in the African Cup of Nations tournament early next year. The Chelsea striker entered the game in the 62nd minute.

John Mikel Obi's Nigeria, already certain of a place in the Finals, beat Lesotho 2-0. It was a game spoilt by a near unplayable pitch in the second-half following heavy rain and indeed the conditions played a big part in Mikel missing a penalty late on, a combination of the keeper and the waterlogging stopping his shot

Ghana, who will be hosting the ACN so have no need to qualify, beat Morocco 2-0 in a friendly played in France. Michael Essien, who captained the Ghana team, ended the game playing in central defence after substitutions had been made.

Back in the qualifiers for Euro 2008, Petr Cech was short odds to keep a clean sheet away to San Marino and he duly obliged as the Czech Republic won 3-0, but the Chelsea keeper was not unemployed during the game.

He had to make three first-half saves with the game still scoreless.

The win leaves the Czechs looking steady in the second qualification place in their group. They are five points behind Germany but two points dropped by the Republic of Ireland, who visit Prague on Wednesday, leaves them three points behind Cech's team.

Claude Makelele and Florent Malouda both played the full 90 minutes of France's 0-0 draw against Italy in Milan, a result the benefits the French the most. They remain a point ahead of Scotland and two above the world champions.

In the same group, Andriy Shevchenko captained Ukraine for the full match away to Georgia but had two shot's saved before the home side equalised in the 89th minute to make it 1-1.

It is not looking too healthy for Ukraine who are now five points adrift of second place although they do have a game in hand. They play Italy at home next.

Paulo Ferreira was neither in the side nor on the pitch in Portugal's home 2-2 draw with Poland, a result that leaves the Portuguese two points behind second place with a game in hand.

Over in South America, Peru drew 2-2 with Columbia in a friendly played at home although Claudio Pizarro was not among the scorers.

Neither of Chelsea's newest Under 21 internationals were in action on Friday. Michael Mancienne had to pull out of England's game with injury while goalkeeper Rhys Taylor remained on the bench for Wales.

In form winger Miroslav Stoch played for Slovakia Under 19s this week and scored twice although his team lost 4-3 to Serbia.

Fabio Ferreira the played the first-half for Portugal Under 19s against Republic of Ireland on Tuesday night in Dublin. The Portuguese won 1-0 with Ferreira subbed after the goal.

Essien is Boss, not Momo.

Did you see the EPL preview show last week, with the feature on Essien. Really top bloke. Timid but has a very nice nature. Seems like a very pleasant guy. (This description is getting gay).

Anyways...

KALOU: PUTTING AFRICA ON ICE

Salomon Kalou was one of three players to rejoin training at Chelsea on Tuesday following international duty.

Monday had been a day-off for what remains of the squad following call-ups but today the young Ivorian striker returned to Cobham along with John Mikel Obi, who had played an African Cup of Nations qualifier for Nigeria at the weekend, and Tal Ben-Haim, free for club duty again. Israel had only one Euro 2008 qualifier scheduled this fortnight.

For Kalou, his time abroad had seen an international job completed. A 0-0 draw away to Gabon ensured qualification for the African Cup of Nations although there wasn't exactly dancing in the streets throughout Ivory Coast at the news.

Anything better than a 6-0 defeat would have guaranteed safe passage to the tournament.

'We knew we were going to go through, it was not a surprise,' Kalou confirms, talking after his first Chelsea session back.

'But it was also very important that we went through the qualification competition without losing any games. It was good for confidence.'

Ivory Coast finished with ten points from four games, their group reduced to only three teams because Djibouti withdrew.

'Now we come back and try to bring that positive spirit that we had with the national team to our clubs,' he adds, having come on in the 62nd minute of Saturday's draw.

Ivory Coast's qualification means all Chelsea's Africans will, if selected, be involved in the January/February tournament.

Nigeria had secured a place even before their Saturday win over Lesotho and Michael Essien's Ghana are the hosts.

Ivory Coast, with Didier Drogba in the side, were losing finalists two years ago when they were defeated on penalties by Egypt, the previous host nation.

The 2008 event will be Kalou's first major international tournament, his Ivory Coast debut having been made in February. He has six caps.

For now though, he is putting all that to the back of his mind.

'It will be my first tournament but most important is just to be focused here at Chelsea and if I am in good shape for my club, that is also very good for my national team.'

By Paul Mason

Well, I watched Ukraine - Italy today and Sheva, BRILLIANT.

The score was dissapointing for Ukraine as it ended 2-1 in favour of Italy but Sheva was excellent the entire game. He was all over the place, hit the bar in the 3rd minute on a free kick then Ukraine got another free kick close to the half way line and Sheva struck it from there, Buffon saved it with great difficulty. He got his feet running again. It was a tough defense of Cannavaro and Barzagli BUT Sheva shot low and hard to get the equaliser as well. He had 5 shots, 3 on target, 1 on the bar.

Ukraine lost and it looks like their chances of getting through to the euro finals are over but Sheva showed great promise. Leading from the front.